The present invention relates generally to corn harvesting machines and, more particularly, to a latching mechanism for the hood member forming a part of the row crop dividers on a corn harvesting header.
Generally, a corn harvesting header includes a plurality of fore-and-aft extending row units for harvesting a corresponding number of rows of corn. Each row unit includes a elongated passageway and a gathering means operable therewithin for harvesting ears of corn and conveying them rearwardly for further harvesting treatment. Corn harvesting headers customarily include a hood member formed of sheet metal and situated between adjacent row unit passageways to serve as a crop divider to guide the rows of crop to their respective row units and as a shield for the drives to the respective crop gathering mechanisms.
To provide access to the gathering mechanism drive for service and maintenance thereof, each hood member is customarily pivotally mounted on the corresponding row unit frames and secured by a latching mechanism spaced some distance from the pivot axis. Due to the spaced relationship between the pivotal mounting of the hood member and the latching mechanism and further due to the flexibility of the sheet metal construction of the hood member, it has been found that proper alignment of the mating members of the latch mechanism can be difficult to obtain.
One form of prior art latching mechanism, spaced some distance from the pivot axis of the hood member, includes a spring-type latch affixed to the moveable hood member and engageable with a locking member stationarily affixed to the row unit frame, relative to the spring-type latch, through an opening therein. However, this particular latching mechanism also suffers from the aforementioned alignment problems, as the spring-type latch is not always properly aligned with the opening in the locking member when the hood member is closed in the operative position. This invention presents a solution to these alignment problems.